Archive for March 22nd, 2007

There is no single artist I admire more than Mr. John Patrick Shanley, the prolific playwright who has won the Tony award two years ago for his play, “Doubt”. I have read much of Mr. Shanley’s cannon of exception work, and have always felt particuarly inspired by the way he speaks about art and his life. Therefore, when I saw that Symphony Space had asked him to be a guest host of their ongoing “Selected Shorts” project, I jumped at the chance too see him speak in person.

“Selected Shorts: A Celebration of the Short Story” is a literary goldmine. Symphony Space invited different actors to read eclectic selections of short stories aloud to an excited audience. Sometimes, a guest host comes in and picks their own favorite short stories to have performed by actors. In this case, Mr. Shanley picked three short stories, two of them by Hemmingway, that all explored his basic thoughts on the meaning of life, which boil down to “Life is a boat and life is a dream”.

Mr. Shanley gave speeches in between the readings of these three stories. His speeches were beyond inspiring. His thick New York accent brings an “everyman” quality to this gifted artist, and as Mr. Shanley speaks on the meaning of life he is wise and witty. He throws each page of his speeches onto the stage after he has read them, his eyes twinkle with irony and knowledge. The stories were succinct and beautiful, read expertly by Ron Cephas Jones, Dana Ivey, and John Tuturro. Hearing these haunting stories read was a gift in and of itself. Mr. Shanley’s presence, guiding the audience’s understanding of these great works was almost too wonderful to handle.

“Selected Shorts” is a necessary event for anyone with a passionate love of literature. And John Patrick Shanley’s work is a must read for anyone at all.